63 airlifted, over 300 rescued by road in Himachal on day 3
Shimla, Sep 27 : Sixty-three people, including three German and 10 women Indian tourists with three children, were airlifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Himachal Pradesh's snow-ravaged Lahaul valley on Thursday.
Besides, over 300 people were rescued by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) by road also, officials said. The total number of people rescued in the past three days rose to over 1,300, including 18 foreigners.
They were stranded at various locations in the Himalayas for the past five days with heavy snowfall in the region triggering massive landslides that blocked many roads in Lahaul-Spiti district.
With the weather clearing up, search and rescue operation began early for the third day.
"About 400-500 people are still awaiting evacuation. All stranded tourists have been provided food stuff and medical kits and would be evacuated in a day or two, mostly by road as snow clearing operation in Baralacha Pass area is in full swing," a government official told IANS.
A large number of people are reported to be stuck in Suraj Tal lake and Zingzing Bar areas along Keylong-Leh road.
Over 300 labourers of the BRO, a Ministry of Defence wing, involved in construction of roads in forward areas have also been stranded since September 22.
An IAF helicopter spotted 10 women tourists along with three children in Chhota Dara area towards the Kunzum Pass. All of them were rescued by the IAF rescuers led by Squadron Leader Vipul Goyal.
Their male companions were provided with relief material and they would be evacuated later, officials said.
Two Chetak helicopters were additionally deployed on Thursday along with three the IAF choppers to speed up the rescue in the Lahaul valley in the Himalayas. The rescue operation will continue on Friday, too, the official said.
A day earlier, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called him on the phone, that the state has suffered losses totalling approximately Rs 1,250 crore due to the heavy rains.
Modi has assured the state of all possible central assistance.
Early snowfall in the higher reaches, cloudburst and heavy rains devastated large parts of the state from September 22 to 24.
Heavy snowfall on the Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft) has cut off the Lahaul and Spiti valleys affecting a large number of tourists and hampering water and electricity supply. They have been stranded at a number of isolated locations.
The BRO has been clearing the snow from various roads on a war footing. Some stretches had over eight feet of snow.
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Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman expresses displeasure over absent ministers
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti on Tuesday briefly adjourned the House, expressing displeasure over the absence of Ministers and ruling party members post lunch break.
The development comes a day after Assembly Speaker U T Khader adjourned the House and walked out in protest, over the lack of written replies from government departments to questions raised by MLAs.
The "unprecedented" move by the Speaker had caused huge embarrassment to the Congress government, forcing the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to issue directives to Ministers and bureaucrats, including suspending errant officials.
When the council resumed after lunch, Leader of Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy pointed toward the empty treasury benches and suggested that ruling party members seemed to have "boycotted" the proceedings.
Only Minister of School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa and Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed were in attendance.
The Chairman asked, "Ministers are not here; what should I do?"
Raising objection to empty treasury benches, Opposition Chief Whip N Ravikumar said, "If we have to speak on any issues, who should we tell? Who is there among Ministers? Where is the government?"
Following this, Horatti adjourned the House for 10 minutes.
When the House resumed, a couple of Ministers -- Ramalinga Reddy, Santosh Lad arrived, but the treasury benches by and large remained sparse as most of the ruling Congress MLCs were absent.
The Chairman asked the Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed, "If there are no members and Ministers on the treasury bench side, what is it? How should the House be run? If you don't want, I will adjourn the House for tomorrow. What other work is there during the session? If there are no members and the seats are empty, how can the House run?"
When Horatti asked the Chief Whip about the MLCs, Ahmed replied, "They will be coming."
Pointing out that MLCs were not present, despite the House resuming late post lunch, the Chairman said, "What should we do? Shall I adjourn the House for tomorrow? What do you mean that they will be coming? I don't like it."
Ravikumar attacked the ruling Congress, asking, "Before whom should we raise the issues?"
When the Chairman expressed his willingness to adjourn the House till Wednesday morning, Ravikumar said the opposition BJP was ready to participate in the proceedings, provided the treasury benches show equal cooperation.
Defending the ruling party members, Congress MLC Ramesh Babu said there was some delay in the return of his party colleagues, who had gone for lunch.
As a couple of Ministers and ruling party MLCs started trickling in, the Chairman called BJP MLC A H Vishwanth to speak on the Budget.
